Oct 30, 2013

Chatting to Creepy Hollow's author_Rachel Morgan: #Interview

One of the things I enjoy most about interviews is the surprises you find.

Like the fact that I'm sure if I was standing at a Woolworths checkpoint buying the days bread and milk, I could never guess what the person in front of me does or what exciting lives they live.

They look mostly as average as I do.

But blog interviews allow us a glimpse into the exciting worlds which often make up these strangers lives. Rachel Morgan is one such person. Another South Africa fantasy writer who creates the most wonderful, fantastical worlds imaginable and i get a little look see into how she does it....along with you of course *lol*.

Win eBook Copy Very simple entry.Don't forget to FOLLOW THE BLOG & COMMENT or JUST LEAVE A COMMENT if you are a follower on this blog. One person will win a Kindle copy of the book of their choise from the *Creepy Hollow Series*.Winners will be announced next Monday 4th November.
You also have a chance to enter the Rafflecopter linked to this post.
Happy reading and Good Luck!

You are in the throes of getting a new book out. Can you tell us about it?

The book I’ve just released is The Faerie War, the third novel in the Creepy Hollow series. I began writing this series in 2011, and I first envisioned it as a serial of about ten to twelve short parts. After publishing the first four short parts, I decided this story was better suited to novel-length installments. Those four short parts formed The Faerie Guardian, my first novel. In May this year, I published the second novel, The Faerie Prince. And now we’re at the conclusion to Violet’s story, The Faerie War.

What are your ambitions for the Creepy Hollow series?

A movie deal! (Hey, we can all dream, can’t we?!) On a more serious note, though, I suppose I’d like as many people to read this series (and love it!) as possible. All three of my books have been consistently on and off the Amazon bestseller lists, which is really exciting for me. The next thing I’d like to do is extend my audience in my own country, South Africa. It’s a challenge as an indie author with no publisher behind my name, but I’m slowly getting there with my books finding their way into more and more school libraries.

Can you tell us a little of the genesis of the series and your writing journey to this point?

This series came about after I’d finished the first draft for my first full length novel. That first novel was 120,000 words long, and I definitely needed a break from it! I wanted to do something fun and different for a little while, and that’s when two words popped into my head: Creepy Hollow. And I haven’t worked on anything else since then! So for two and a half years I’ve been “living” in the Creepy Hollow world. It’s been fantastic!

What inspired you to write about faeries as opposed to any other topic within the paranormal genre?

I wanted a magical creature that could be seen as a protector, and I’ve loved faeries ever since I used to write letters to them and build faerie gardens as a little girl. It just seemed natural that my guardians would be faeries!

Being able to push my imagination to create unique, fantastical elements that people may never have come across before. There are no limits when you’re writing fantasy. What I love the most is that ANYTHING is possible!

Since you wrote the series, have you second-guessed or reinterpreted any of the experiences you describe in it?

I’m a perfectionist, so it’s only natural that when I read a few pages of my books now, months after they’ve been published, I can see things I’d like to change. But I wouldn’t want to change the way the actual story went at any point. That was the story I wanted to tell, and I told it. What IS interesting, though, is reading reviews and seeing how other people have interpreted parts of the story. Sometimes their interpretations are quite different to what I was thinking, and other times I think, “This person TOTALLY GETS my story!

C. S. Lewis said: God is the God of men, angels and elves? What are your thoughts?

Well, God is the God of EVERYTHING. He created men and angels, and I (and other authors) create characters like elves, faeries and hobbits. I suppose you could call writers “gods” of a sort then, creating our worlds and characters and stories. But since God is Lord over me, he is Lord over the things I create too.

In The Ocean At The End Of The Lane, Neil Gaiman wrote:

“How can you be happy in this world? You have a hole in your heart. You have a gateway inside you to lands beyond the world you know. They will call you, as you grow.”

What are your thoughts on this yearning you obviously have to create different worlds beyond this one? What calls for it?

Oh yes, I definitely have this yearning, and those lands beyond the world I know are definitely calling to me! I think this is something people are born with. Some people ask me how I can come up with ideas for stories. They say they wouldn’t know what to write. This seems a strange question to me because as long as I can remember, I’ve had stories playing themselves out in my head. The problem is not HOW to come up with an idea, but WHICH idea of the many ideas in my head to choose!

Which of the books in the series is your favourite?

Probably the second book, The Faerie Prince. I love the way the two main characters grow within themselves and towards each other as they learn to forgive past hurts and figure out how to be friends (and more) once again.

If you had to choose a character to kill, which one would you absolutely not even consider killing?

Hmm. Probably the love interest of the main character. I think a certain amount of heartbreak is allowed in a novel, but that’s going too far! (Unless that’s the point of the novel, and I haven’t written a story like that yet.)

Finish the sentence:

Something you are always grateful for…… full-time writing.

Something you could do without…… late nights.

Being South African means…… understanding and embracing differences.

Love is…….. forgiveness.

I love waking up to…….. sunshine.

This invigorates me……. Exercise! I often get inspiration while I’m running.

Creativity to me is like…..

cultivating a garden,

wooing a bird or

hunting a boar?

Like cultivating a garden. A garden grows slowly. Flowers pop up here and there at different times. It may look dull in the beginning, but as time passes and more flowers bloom, as you tend to some parts of the garden and then to others, clipping and pruning as you go, you eventually end up with one glorious masterpiece.

Win an eBook Copy Very simple entry.

Don't forget to FOLLOW THE BLOG & COMMENT or JUST LEAVE A COMMENT if you are a follower on this blog.

One person will win a Kindle copy of the book of their choise from the *Creepy Hollow Series*.

Winners will be announced next Monday 4th November.

Excerpt from The Faerie Guardian:

My assignment tonight is cuter than most. He’s asleep at his desk, his cheek stuck to the open page of a textbook. Strands of sun-bleached hair lie across his forehead, and his lips—which I may or may not have been admiring for the past half hour—are parted.

I slide off the window seat and creep across the room. It’s bigger than I first thought, and with couches and a television arranged to form a separate sitting area, it’s more like a hotel suite than a regular bedroom.

Great. More places for things to hide.

I shrink into a shadowed corner and wait. For what, exactly, I’m not sure—the Seers never See more than a glimpse of what may happen. The boy’s steady breathing fills the room. A breeze lifts the curtain, and I catch the flicker of a streetlight on Draven Avenue.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Breathe in.

Breathe—

There she is! With a hiss, the serpent woman streaks across the room, lamplight reflecting off her scaly skin. I stretch my arms into position and feel the prickly warmth of the bow and arrow as they materialize in my hands. I pull back and let go. The arrow flies across the room in a shower of orange-gold sparks, finding its mark in the reptiscilla’s shoulder.

She cries out, stumbles, and twists in my direction. Her black eyes bore into mine. “It’s happening already,” she whispers.

She rips the arrow from her shoulder—a move that must have really hurt—and lunges for the boy. I toss my bow aside and dive toward him too, knocking his sleeping form to the floor. He’s awake now, which isn’t ideal, but at least he can’t see us.

I roll off him and spring to my feet, just in time for the reptiscilla to throw herself at me. We’re on the floor. She buries her fangs in my arm, but I barely register the stinging pain. I hear Tora’s voice in my head: Bend your knees, arch your back, thrust your opponent right off.

I hurl my body over and pin the reptiscilla down by her throat, my free hand already reaching into the air for another arrow. I bring it down swiftly, straight toward her heart.

But she’s gone.

Thankfully. I hate it when I have to kill them. With a heavy breath I collapse against the nearest wall, still gripping the arrow. The cord that held my hair back has come undone, and tangles of purple and black fall in my face. I push them away, and begin to feel the tingling ache of the reptiscilla’s bite.

“What . . . the hell . . . was that?”

I raise my eyes. The boy is looking at me.

At me!

Author Bio

Rachel Morgan was born in South Africa and spent a large portion of her childhood living in a fantasy land of her own making. After completing a degree in genetics, she decided science wasn’t for her—after all, they didn’t approve of made-up facts. These days she spends much of her time immersed in fantasy land once more, writing fiction for young adults.

When she isn't writing, she's reading (duh!), catching up on addictive TV series, and baking things that almost always include chocolate.

Most know me as the author to Fabulosity Reads and in actual fact, that is the previous name of this blog. I have since then moved my books to a Wordpress self-hosted blog so that I can have a place to show a different side of me which I am equally passionate about and that is marketing and personal development. I hope you will love being here, watching me grow as I share and learn. My highest hope is that we will grown and learn together in all disciplines affecting our lives. I'd LUUURRRVE to hear from you, so don't be shy...